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We help cousins learn about and re-connect with their families by preserving materials that document the lives, past and present, of our ancestors.  These include old letters, postcards, family lists, court papers, books, news articles, obituaries and funeral cards, newsletters, certificates, awards and photographs. Click to see materials added in 2001 and 1999-2000.

• Fabric logo-patch worn by members of the Van Wert (OH) Police Department, a gift of Officer Dennis Wagonrod.

• Press release from Adventure Racing Magazine of Bradenton, FL, published by David R. and Cynthia K. Miner, announcing its sale to Adventure Sports Magazine.

• Letters written circa 1911-1912 by Bertha (Minerd) Pringle, who died of injuries after years of domestic violence.

• Article by Dr. Eric L. McDowell, "A Numerical Introduction to Partial Fractions," published in the November 2002 edition of The College Mathematics Journal.

• Copy of the 2002 book, All Nine Alive! The Dramatic Mine Rescue That Inspired and Cheered a Nation, published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and quoting Mark Zambanini.

• Copy of the Swearingen family book Family Historical Register, by Henry Hartwell Swearingen, published in 1884 by C.W. Brown, Washington, DC.

• Copy of the 2002 booklet, Lynn Point Cemetery: Burial Listings and Mapping and Cleanup Efforts, published by the Minerd-Miner-Minor Reunion Committee.

• Copy of the book, A Pioneer History of Richland County, Ohio, by General Roeliff Brinkerhoff, edited by Mary Jane (Armstrong) Henney, published in 1993 by the Richland County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society.

• Copy of the Sept. 12, 2002 feature article in the Williamsburg (VA) Daily Press about teenage pastry chef Tim Minerd, who in November will receive a Make-A-Wish Foundation trip to New York City to attend the New York Chocolate Convention.

• Obituaries of John and Barbara (Shaeffer) Minerd Jr. and Henry and Catherine (Bowers) Minerd, pioneer settlers of the Indiana-Ohio state line in the late 1830s and early 1840s.

• Obituary of Caroline (Minerd) Pring, who with her husband John Pring was a pioneer settler of Cedarville, IN in 1847.

• Pages from The McGirks of Missouri, published in July 1967 by David Harrell of San Francisco, and containing the obituary of Leonidas Soland McGirk Sr.

• Newspaper clippings and booklet about the Sept. 8, 2002 dedication of a Pennsylvania State Historical Marker at the pioneering housing community of Norvelt, PA, sponsored by and named in honor of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and in which Ralph C. and Violet (Summy) Minerd were original homeowners.

• Pages from the 1986 booklet, Ohio City Church of God, with many extracts from the 1974 book, John Winebrenner: 19th Century Reformer, by Dr. G. Richard Kern.

• Copies of  'Once Upon Another Time,' a series of newspaper articles by Mary Jane (Armstrong) Henney in the Mansfield (OH) News-Journal from July 1985 to December 1987.

• Copy of the 2-volume series, Ohio Cemeteries (1978) and Ohio Cemeteries Addendum (1990), landmark works identifying large and small burial grounds throughout Ohio, published by the Ohio Genealogical Society, an effort co-chaired by Mary Jane (Armstrong) Henney.

• Pages from the 1884 book, The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, mentioning Solomon Minard Sr. as an early member of the Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal Church.

• Newspaper clipping from the 'Eighth Annual Minard' Reunion, likely held in or near Mt. Vernon, Knox County, OH in the early 1900s, with Francis D. 'Frank' Minard serving as president.

• Several hundred pages of genealogy records of Mary Jane (Armstrong) Henney of Mansfield, OH, documenting 5 generations of the Solomon Minard Sr. branch in Knox and Richland Counties, OH.

• Copies of manuscript memoirs written by Dr. Roy S. Minerd -- Keep Sweet! written circa 1916-1918, and Notes on Trip in the West, August 17-September 12, 1948.

• Music CDs -- Lisa and BLS-Two -- recorded in 2002 by Bill and Lisa (Hawker) Janoske of Oakland, MD.

• Photocopy of the Harbaugh Reunion Minutes 1947-2001, begun in September 1947 by then-Secretary Theodore Mountain and continued today by Betty Lou (Harbaugh) Tressler.

• Copy of the 2002 book, Tom Custer: Ride to Glory by Carl F. Day, published by Arthur H. Clark Co., Spokane, WA.

• World War I service record of Jacob C. Crabtree of Alliance, OH, who served in the 329th Field Hospital.

• World War II honorable discharge certificate of seaman first class James Howard Crabtree of the US Navy.

• Delayed birth certificates of Frank and Margaret (Kilgore) Minerd of Uniontown, PA.

• Pay envelopes of coal miner Paul Ream of the Consolidation Coal Co. (1939-1944) and Saxman Coal and Coke Co. (1947).

• Technical papers authored from 1977 to 1984 by the late Dr. Henry M. Horstman, of the Instituto di Astronomia, Universita di Bologna, Italy, on his research of gamma ray bursts and cosmic fireballs using balloon observation techniques, courtesy of the Space Sciences Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley.

• Copy of the 2002 book Polish Political Emigres in the United States of America, 1831-1864, by Florian Stasik, translated by Eugene Podraza, published by the Polish American Historical Association.

• 1988 Buffalo News article about the husband and wife Pro Rally automobile racing team of Jon and Jean Minerd of Yorkshire, NY.

• Copy of the book Fort Necessity and Historic Shrines of the Redstone Country (1932), published by the Fort Necessity Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, mentioning the work of William A. Gaither as caretaker of famed historical landmark, Braddock's Grave, near Uniontown, PA.

• Pages from the 1983 book, Dunbar: The Furnace Town, describing the 1910 fire and the 1912 flood that destroyed the home and jewelry store, respectively, of James and Lizzie (Minerd) Kelly.

• Printouts of the online History of the Hopwood United Methodist Church, mentioning Rev. Isaac H. Minerd, W.A. and Bertha (Ingles) Stone, Benton 'Lucas' and Lizzie White, and Simeon T. Goff.

• Copy of the May 2002 brit milah ceremony for Jordan Alexander Miner of Cape Cod, MA.

• National Law Journal guest column, "Lawyers and the Press: Deadly Enemies or Friends?" authored by Mark A. Miner (May 6, 2002).

• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Oct. 7, 2001 "Focus" Magazine, with a cover story on Mill Run, PA, featuring a photograph of the 3-generation Work family farm.

• 1873 birth certificate of Frank W. Hanshaw Sr., of Grafton, Taylor County, WV.

• Page from the book, Westmoreland Towns in the World War, with a photograph and military career information about Ray Clayton Stairs of Mt. Pleasant, PA.

• 1892 newspaper article from Uniontown, PA, quoting the court testimony of Katherine (Ramsey) Minerd in the burglary trial of her brother, Jack Ramsey, of the notorious Cooley Gang.

• Burial records of Missouri (Shelkey) Minerd and her son Ernest Minerd at Bowman-Flatwoods Cemetery near Vanderbilt, PA.

• 1937 newspaper article from Uniontown, PA, about Harry Minerd's grisly discovery of a severed head near B&O Railroad tracks in Dunbar, PA.

• Pages from St. Bartholomew's Evangelical Lutheran Church Parish Records, by Paul Miller Ruff, mentioning John Minard Sr. and John Minard Jr. of New Rumley, Harrison County, OH, as charter members in 1834.

• Pages from the History of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Uniontown, Pa. by Robert F. Hopwood (1938), describing the active work of Andrew 'Stewart' Ingles.

• Pages from History of Perry County, Ohio by Clement L. Martzolff (1902), with a description of the town of Sego.

• Additional Civil War pension records of Charles Rose (171st PA Infantry), David Harbaugh (5th PA Heavy Artillery), Andrew Jackson Rose (142nd PA Infantry, Austin Coleman VanHorn (86th OH Infantry), William J. Burditt (123rd OH Infantry) and William H. Shepard (36th OH and 34th OH Infantry), from the National Archives.

• Military pension records of Spanish-American War veterans Thomas Strauch (14th PA Infantry) and Lester Sherwood (2nd AR Infantry), from the National Archives.

• Marriage records from Elkhart County, IN, for Mabel (Miner) Dixon and Mary (Miner) Violett, strongly thought to be cousins, though their exact connection is unknown.

• The magazine Adventure Racing (Issue #4, 2002), edited and published by David Richard Miner, with help from general manager Cynthia K. Miner, and a guest column on nutrition by Mae (Horne) Miner, R.N.

• Copy of the book A Complete History of the Scioto Marsh by Carl Drumm, republished in 1976 by the Hardin County Historical Society, Kenton, OH, with references to the 1904 electric chair death of William Nichols, convicted murderer of Alpheus Minerd.

• Article by Christine (Minerd) Smith, "A Mississippi Hero Visits Trinity Church (Imaging William Faulkner)" in the January 2002 issue of The Vision newspaper of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Denver, CO.

• Obituary of Ohio Farmer co-publisher William Henry Lawrence of Cleveland, OH, who was shot by a jealous lover in 1898.

• Newspaper clippings and court records from Hardin County, OH about the 1903-1904 trial and imprisonment of William Nichols, murderer of Civil War veteran Alpheus Minerd.

• World War I letters written from France by Oliver Stoner of Robinson, IL, as well as later obituaries and funeral cards for him and his wife Audria.

• Funeral card and death certificate of Civil War veteran David Harbaugh (1910) of near Scullton, PA.

• 1936 obituary of Nathan Clarence Stoner of Robinson, IL, a onetime manufacturer of oil field pumps who later leased real estate properties.

• Papers of Letitia (Harbaugh) Stoner of Sistersville, WV and Robinson, IL, including her 1895 marriage license and announcement card; copies of letters she wrote and received; a postcard from nieces Leona and Anna May Laughery of Farmington, DE; and her 1962 obituary.

• Family history papers kept by Dorothy (Stoner) Sheldon of Findlay, OH.

• Copy of the World War II ration book of Agnes (Stoner) Wood of Findlay, OH.

• Copies of these books by Dr. G. Richard Kern: John Winebrenner: 19th Century Reformer (Central Publishing House, 1974); A History of the Ohio Conference (Evangel Press, 1986); and Findlay College: The First Hundred Years (Evangel Press, 1984).

• News articles on the career of Dr. G. Richard Kern of Findlay, OH, former President of the Winebrenner Theological Seminary and former Professor of History at the University of Findlay (OH).

• Copies of Mennonite Weekly Review columns by Kathleen Kern, a member of the Christian Peace Maker Team currently serving in the West Bank of Israel.

• Obituary of Addie V. (Benn) Custer-Cain of Bowling Green, OH, whose 1st husband was Thomas C. Custer, son of Captain Thomas Ward Custer and nephew of General George Armstrong Custer.

• Copy of the 1996 book, The History/Genealogy of John and Nancy McCullough Jewell by Ivan Stearns, highlighting the descendants of William L. and Pera (Minerd) Jewell of Wood County, OH.

• Obituary of Gerald D. Croll, co-owner of the Croll Funeral Homes of Tontogany and Grand Rapids, OH.

• Pages from the Index to Commissioners Journal of Wood County (OH) on the awarding of bridge-building contracts circa 1895-1901 to Jacob Minerd and William J. Burditt of Tontogany, OH.

• Obituary of Wood County (OH) pioneer Jemima (Minerd) Burditt.

• Letter from the National Cemetery Administration with information on the burials of these soldiers who died in the Civil War: Andrew J. Miner (90th OH Cavalry), Leonard Rowan (85th PA Infantry), John I. White (85th PA Infantry), Burkett M. Fawcett (3rd WV Infantry) and Jacob M. Younkin (85th PA Infantry).

• Censuses, death certificates and a funeral card for members of the family of John and Lizzie (Miner) Lytle of Lilly, PA.

• Hand-drawn map of Greenbrier Cemetery near Ohio City, OH, the burial place for James Knight Jr. (died 1875).

• Grade school report cards and autograph book of Letitia (Harbaugh) Stoner, of near Scullton, Somerset County, PA, circa 1888-1890.

• Printed advertisement for vacuum pumps built at the Stoner Machine Shop in Sistersville, WV circa 1900.

• Copy of Stephen E. Ambrose's book, Comrades (Simon & Schuster, 1999) featuring a chapter called "Brothers: The Custer Boys" discussing General George A. Custer and his brother Thomas W. Custer.

• Pages from the 1993 book, The Family of Peter Everly (c1749-1819), by James H. Shaw of Brownsville, PA, with information on the families of Absalom and Sarah (Carroll) Everly and H.H. and Mary (Fawcett) Gribble of Preston County, WV.

• Civil War pension file of Absalom Everly of Co. C of the 3rd WV Infantry, 3rd WV Cavalry and 6th WV Cavalry, from the National Archives.

Copyright © 2002 Mark A. Miner